69 A.D.: The Year of Four Emperors

Mr. Morgan delivers a stellar account of a unique year in the Roman Empire, 69 AD. Not merely relying on a single source, Mr. Morgan conflates a plethora of sources, Tacitus, Suetonius, Plutarch, Josephus, among others. Mr. Morgan does his best to give an unbiased account of all the principle actors. However, Mr. Morgan tends to rely a good amount on Tacitus (not a bad thing though). One point that I found impressive about the book is the detail Mr. Morgan goes into recounting the battles. For example, Mr. Morgan recounts an interesting story; "...they (Vitellian's forces) hauled a gigantic rock-throwing ballista onto the causeway, and began leveling the Flavian line. The results would have been catastrophic, had not two Flavian soliders picked up Vitellian shields, slipped in unnoticed among the enemy artillerymen, and managed somehow to put the ballista out of action," pg. 207. Such detail is indeed worthy of praise. Furthermore, this is just one of several fascinating little stories that Mr. Morgan relates in his book. Also, in appendix one, Mr. Morgan gives short biographies about the men whose works he used to write his book; Tacitus and Plutarch, for example. Another interesting part is in appendix three, in which Mr. Morgan gives short biographies of the legions of that time. In conclusion, I would highly recommend this book to anyone who has any interest in the Roman Empire. It is superbly written, very well researched and very interesting. If Mr. Morgan ever does a book on the year of the five emperors (193 AD) or year of the six emperors (238 AD), I shall be first in line to purchase it.

In "69 A.D.,the year of the four emperors" Professor Morgan gives a comprehensive, detailed narrative of a year which in most histories of the period is usually treated briefly, as a confused and confusing interlude between the extravagances of Nero and the stability of Vespasian. His book combines clarity and readability with interesting and convincing analyses of many disputed questions,all based on a deep knowledge of his subject. Anyone interested in Roman history will enjoy this book.

Gwyn Morgan gives life to ancient texts and really shows what happened in 69 A.D. This book is must reading for students of ancient history.

69 A.D. is a narrative of violent deeds -- murders, betrayals, warfare, decadence, all the stuff of the Roman Empire on the silver screen -- as the suicide of Nero was followed by the rise and fall of three remarkably unattractive Emperors, Galba, Otho, and Vitellius, all in the space of less than a year. The narrative concludes with the advent of Vespasian, essentially the second founder of imperial stability. If you are reading this book for gory diversion, however, you will be mildly disappointed. Gwyn Morgan is not a breath-taking stylist but rather an earnest academic historian. The real interest in this book is historiographical, that is, the important question of what uses to make of historical sources, especially synchronic literary accounts of events, and how to confirm or contradict such sources. In this case, the chief source is the Roman historian Tacitus; 69 A.D. is centrally a study of the reliability of Tacitus for understanding events that shaped the whole future of the Roman Empire and thus the modern world. A serious book for serious thinkers about history!

This is a well-written book that details the important year of 69 A.D., when the Roman Empire was ruled by four different men. It combines several of the ancient sources, particularly that of Tacitus, but does not accept them blindly. The author points out where the sources disagree, and even shows where what the sources wrote could not be necessarily correct. It is an exciting tale, and one that will keep the pages turning for the reader, even though he knows the ultimate outcome.